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The need to look beyond our borders

The health of Washington’s wildlife today and into the future depends on transboundary coordination with our neighbors. Our analyses to date have shown the importance of maintaining connections between habitats in our states and neighboring states. Our statewide analysis extending into portions of British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon helped us to understand these connections. It showed important linkages between Washington and British Columbia across all three species guilds (Montane, Shrub-steppe, and Generalist), and specifically for individual species including badger, mountain goat, lynx, and wolverine. Our climate analysis showed important temperature gradient linkages between Washington and British Columbia as we look at maintaining connections in a changing climate. Our Columbia Plateau ecoregional analysis (a finer scale look at arid lands) extended beyond Washington into Idaho and Oregon, but did not include British Columbia’s arid lands in the Okanogan valley due to challenges with data. As we look to understand the transboundary connections to the north of our state, our Transboundary Subgroup is considering a new approach.

A new approach

Three subregions identified by our workgroup in the transboundary region between Washington and British Columbia.

Due to the challenges in collecting and analyzing data seamlessly across the international border and the clear patterns that emerged from our analyses to date, we propose taking a different approach to a finer scale analysis in this region than the ecoregional approach. We identified three subregions that would allow us to engage with local experts to look at connectivity patterns and function in portions of the overall transboundary landscape: 1) North Cascades-Coast subregion, 2) Okanagan-Kettles subregion, and 3) Columbia-Selkirk subregion.

Additionally, in close coordination with the Climate Subgroup an intensive effort with partners from Washington and British Columbia was conducted to interpret existing climate connectivity information and analysis for the transboundary region with specific case studies. Read a summary report on this effort that concluded in April 2016, and view the full set of data, reports, and appendices in the project’s Databasin gallery.

Funding has been provided for this important cross-border work to date by the Cascadia Partner Forum, North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Northwest Climate Science Center, and Wilburforce Foundation.

Discussion is underway to address the other subregions in the transboundary landscape.